I would like a clarification from Canada on their efforts to bring back the Ontario teen that is currently being refused exit from Cuba for his part in a car crash in Camaguey...

The AFP reported that finally the Harper government has gotten on the case that has lingered since April nearly bankrupting this Ontario family. But the article seemed to insinuate that they were also pushing for the release of 6 other Canadians currently being detained in Cuba.

I for one am interested to find out if we're pushing for the release of the 4 Montrealers who are being held for rape. Because pushing for the release of a kid who was involved in an accident where everyone died and no fault was found yet is one thing, but pushing for the release of "alleged" rapists is another...

"Victory" has a price...

...and apparently that price is $3.99.

The truth is in the numbers.

The Castro Cartel can say whatever it wants about dissidents being paid by foreign oppressors and they can have all the little press releases and columns by Comrade Fidel that they want, print all the propaganda in the world, but the bottom line is: it just doesn’t fucking matter.

I got curious today while I was on lunch, so I decided to do some comparisons of Alexa rankings and compare different sites:

Desdecuba.com/generaciony Global ranking: 73,233 (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/desdecuba.com)

Granma.ca Global ranking: 107,519 (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/granma.cu)

So if anyone, anywhere in the world would like to question the power of free expression and the determination of those who want to speak out: the statistics speak for themselves. The global relevance of a state run rag filled with propaganda about commercial accords with Viet Nam, the global importance of the sugar cane and how rosy life is under a never-ending dictatorship, is in effect: null.

An independent blogger, blogging through whatever means she cans reaches a wider global audience than a news website that tries so hard to discredit anyone who doesn’t agree with the official position of the party.

I would really love to add more to this but I think I’ll let the number do the talking from here on in…

73,233 > 107,519

PS: my traffic rank…Mypolicophobia.blogspot.com Global ranking: 27,446,962... that's right baby, TWENTY SEVEN MILLION FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO!!! That's like 4 million spots down from last year!

To friends in Cuba...

To all my friends in Cuba and to the entire Cuban blogosphere, please take care and have a really really safe holiday!

Cuban Health System

"It was just mentioned to me by our esteemed speaker, 'Did anyone say
anything about the Cuban health system?' And lemme tell ya, before you
say “Oh, it’s a commu–”, you need to go down there and see what Fidel
Castro put in place. And I want you to know, now, you can think whatever
you want to about Fidel Castro, but he was one of the brightest leaders
I have ever met. [APPLAUSE] And you know, the Cuban revolution that
kicked out the wealthy, Che Guevara did that, and then, after they took
over, they went out among the population to find someone who could lead
this new nation, and they found…well, just leave it there (laughs), an
attorney by the name of Fidel Castro…"

Oh man... I came across this video and transcript (thanks Charlie) of a congresswoman from L.A. praising the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro stating that he is one of the brightest leaders she's ever met and that the health system in Cuba is one that America should aspire to.

No offense lady, but have you been to a Cuban hospital? I don't mean the nice one for tourists that Michael Moore went to, I meant the "REAL" hospitals that regular every day people go to? Didn't your mother teach you not to be a Communist? Didn't you grow up in the land of opportunity? I bet you never tried to get on a raft made of tires and driftwood to sneak INTO CUBA!

Anyways... Enough said, read the transcript or watch the video and I dare ANY of you to come up with something positive to say about Watson's stance about Castro.

4 Montrealers Arrested for Rape in Cuba

I read in a little newspaper snippet on the subway this morning that four Montrealers had been arrested and are currently being detained in La Condesa prison in Cuba for the alleged rape of a 23 year old Toronto woman. The only English language article I found was HERE.

In the French language articles, it is probably worth mentioning, they mention that the 4 men say that after partying with this girl in Varadero she consented to go back to their room and have sexual relations with all of them. They then proceeded to send compromising photos to the woman's father in Mississauga. An attorney representing 3 of the 4 men claims that the woman is claiming she was raped in order to save face in front of her Muslim family.

I think that either way, rape charges should be taken seriously and that if these men really did rape her that the time they spend in Cuban jail while the investigation (which may take up to a year to complete) is underway will be a good way to start the whole punishment process. If they didn't however rape this woman, well, I really have no comment to add.

I've often wondered what jails would be like in Cuba for foreigners as compared to how Cuban prisoners are treated. I guess that these four are finding out first hand.

A Reflection on July 26th

It seems like forever since I’ve written about my good friends the Castros. But I figured after reading some of the crap that came out of Raul’s July 26th speech to the “nation” that is was worth a few lines on my little blog. In this post I’m going to use quotes from two people, the first being Raul that I’ve obtained from various sources on the net, the second being a Cuban blogger named Deya:). She had posted something a few days before the speech that I thought would make the perfect answer or at least ask the perfect rebuttal to the supreme leader.

Castro’s speech on the 26th was, as usual, punctuated with a lot of useless rhetoric and fluff, when speaking of the hurricanes and the damage they did he said: “Many people mobilized and they stayed away from their families and homes, even when their own houses were damaged. They trusted the Revolution and they did their duty.” (Quote from the Cuban News Agency) 57% of the people who trusted in the Revolution are still homeless in Cuba following the hurricanes.

Those who aren’t and those who are now living a “decent” life are those who rely on their children, cousins, brothers and sisters living abroad… “I would like to ask how many pants, pairs of shoes and cell phones I have to send my dad to not miss him…” “Or how many computers and home decorations I have to give to my mom so that she doesn’t worry about if I am eating well, sleeping the hours that I need and associating with good people…” Says Deya:) in her post, (she is now living abroad.) The Cubans living outside long ago stopped trusting the Revolution, and a Revolution that forces children to support their parents, splits up families, makes mothers worry for the safety of their children living so far away and breaks so many hearts is no Revolution at all. “But, truly, if someone gave me some magic formula, I would kill myself to work even harder so that they don’t miss me so much or feel the impact of my absence, and so I wouldn’t feel that way about them.”

Castro talks about a return to the land to help with Cuba’s food shortages and the fact that they are having more and more trouble acquiring what they need from foreign sources. In referring to cultivating barren land he says "Let's see if we get to work or not, if we produce or not, if we keep our word." While agriculture might be the way to save people from physical starvation, what about the mental anorexia and the emotional famine caused by the Revolution? “You see, I sincerely wonder … When is this better future that the pro-Castro slogans promise coming. For what purpose and motive do they ask us to work more and harder? Where is this ideal we have been chasing for 50 years already?”

Castro also referred to the help of those abroad in the hard times after the hurricanes of 2008. “The Cuban people also thank the assistance, support and solidarity offered by people from many nations.” How much of that help was actually given by the millions of Cubans living abroad such as Deya:)? And is that really a solution? Because the island will keep being hit by hurricanes, disaster after disaster, how long can Raul and the people rely on those living abroad to survive? What is the real solution? “The solution is not to send money and things ... that is palliative. Nor is it staying there drying up, giving all your strengths, your hopes and your youth to the one who has given you absolutely nothing but promises and lies. I don’t have a solution, I would like one. I know this isn’t it. But this can’t be the natural order of things ...”


From his podium, in front of his crowd of sheep, Castro can pound his fists as much as he wants and yell “Fatherland or death! Down with imperialism!” all night long. But out of those 200,000 people in the crowd many of them are attending wearing jeans, shoes, hats and watches sent by loved ones who cry themselves to sleep every night far away from home working to help those left in Cuba. Those people in the crowd know the truth and know that Imperialism as defined by the Regime is not the enemy, the enemy is the one closer to home that keeps you wondering where your next meal will come from, how you will survive the next hurricane and the one that keeps you wondering how many children you will have to give up to foreign nations before things change.

In a heartfelt post, probably much more honest and true than Castro’s speech, Deya:) pours out her feelings; the feelings of a young woman, far away from her family her home and from those she loves. She is now on the outside looking in with a broken heart and teary eyes. “Obviously we aren’t on the right track. We will keep trying to find another, which may not be right, but I will keep trying for another. One that doesn’t involve so much pain, separation, hatred, repression and tears ... especially tears.”

(Deya:)'s original post can be found by clicking HERE)

Bargain Basement Hero?

Walking through Zellers a few days ago I found in a discount art bin a reprint of the famous Che painting that you can see above... I took a picture with my blackberry but the price still came out blurry... The price (if you can see it) reads $14.97 (that's 12.87 USD, 9.22 EUR, 11.88 CUC). And I had to ask myself, if they're liquidating Che art is the Revolution in better shape then its poster-boy?

So I went to the internet and searched for answers and according to an article in Reuters Fidel Castro himself foresaw this whole economic downturn 26 years ago when he said: "The current state of the world economy and its gloomy outlook should lead to a profound reflection in governments and in the most lucid minds of the developed world."

But according to an article in Itar-Tass: “Since the signing of the agreement (on granting a state credit against Russian goods and services) the Cuban side has three times violated the payment terms. However, the credit provision has not been suspended and no fines were imposed as for June 1, 2009.”

So did the "Fearless" leader actually see this coming 26 years ago and fail to plan? Or is Cuba just not paying its debt because it's slowly gearing up for yet another Special Period?

With Che paintings selling at discount prices and the decline of sales Che t-shirts one wonders if people are undergoing (in Castro's words) a "profound reflection" on if they feel like advertising a murderer and spending their hard earned fast disappearing money supporting a government that spits on human rights while criticizing everyone else for doing just that?

So to answer my original question:is the Revolution in better shape then its poster-boy? The answer is that I think the Revolution is in the same sad state as its bargain basement hero: old, tired, cheap, over publicized, underachieving and dead.

Muchacho Enfermo

Che Part 2

So today I was going to review Che Part 2 with Benicio Del Toro... But instead what I've chosen to do is publish some of the comments that were on The Pirate Bay's comment thread in regards to this movie. Because in all fairness, the comments were much more interesting than the movie and much more insightful... Here is the thread... now sit back, enjoy and please remember that some of this language might be offensive to some readers.

Best comment ever:
-thecash907 at 2009-05-31 22:50 CET:
So... when does the Hitler-as-hero movie come out in this Time Life series of murderous dictator fuckheads? Are Pol Pot and Stalin featured in volumes 3 and 4?

Second best comment on this movie:
-thecash907 at 2009-06-03 08:52 CET:
I'm sure all the people who disagreed with Che during the great revolution would have something to say about the subject.
Oh wait, he fucking murdered them all, along with their families. No wonder their point of view didn't make it into the film. I wonder if that interview where the guy from the Times pissed off Del Toro by asking him about all the people Che slaughtered will make it into the DVD extras? Probably not... can't have the truth dirtying up their revisionist history flick, now can they?


Rebuttals from Che fans:
-0-LSD-0 at 2009-06-04 23:46 CET:
thecash907 PLEASE try not to make assumptions and do your fucking homework.
You don't know shit, so shut the fuck up and get the fuck out.

- sanvodka at 2009-06-03 11:05 CET:
Pelotudos ignorantes. Estaria muy bien q se informen lo q pasaba en cuba cuando estaba gobernado por el titere de EEUU... Lo mismo paso en varios paises de sudamerica con los gobiernos militares impuestos por EEUU.
El che no fue un santo, pero no era el malo de la pelicula.


The conclusion? I still haven't seen the movie! But if it's anything like part 1 it'll be some propaganda machine that makes Che look like the second coming of Christ and idiots around the world will continue to buy Che shirts and think he's great. But at least reading these comments on the download page was kind of entertaining. So maybe I'll get around to watching the movie eventually... I doubt it though, so don't hold your breath for an actual review because odds are I'm just never going to write one.

Muchacho Enfermo

Punishment from the US and the UN?

So I'm going to go ahead and miss the boat on this one and I'm going to post something completely off-topic, well maybe a little bit off-topic... you be the judge

I was reading this article this morning: 2 U.S. journalists on trial in North Korea from the Associated Press. While reading the article and thinking of how to post about it, a sentence really jumped out at me and made me veer off the topic of the sad story of these two journalists. First here's the sentence:
"As discussions continued at the United Nations and in Washington on how to punish the regime for its defiance..."

Wow... the US and the UN are trying to find a way to punish North-Korea for its defiance? It's really easy for the UN and for the US to try and tell a small essentially bankrupt nation what to do isn't it? And when they don't listen the world gets all upset and scolds that country the way you would scold a 4 year old for drawing on the walls of your kitchen.

But when a big country like China jails people for supporting Tibet before the Olympics or bans hotmail or jails local journalists for having opinions the UN and the US would never EVER dream of imposing sanctions or punishment on them... I wonder why?

Or when a small country close to them like Cuba has political prisoners and more jailed journalists per capita than any other place on earth (according to Reporters without Borders) all they do is keep the embargo and don't demand anything else.

Or when in Burma bloggers are jailed for 58 years and the opposition leader awaits trial in her hospital room because an American swam to her home/prison thus forcing her to violate the terms of her house arrest; no one says anything.

So what makes North-Korea so damned special? Why does anyone care? Oh yeah: nukes! They've threatened to attack the US... that's what makes them special. That's what warrants the UN's attention. Threatening the world largest and most powerful military (that could probably destroy NK in like 17 1/2 minutes) is definitely something that is infinitely more important than the defense of the innocent people that live in these countries that are jailed, tortured and starved on a daily basis for being different.

Not that they'll listen to me but here's my message to the UN: If you want to be taken seriously start taking action and demanding justice for ALL innocents jailed and tortured and living under repressive regimes that ignore Human Rights. And please PLEASE kick China and Cuba off your Human Rights Council. Seriously it's just shameful that they're there...

Muchacho Enfermo

Mobilization

I couldn't decide which image to use... So I used them both. The first one is mine, the second one if from Octavo Cerco.

ETECSA

Hello everyone!

I'm back from my two weeks off and I'm rejuvenated and ready to get going all over again. So many things have gone on in the news while I've been incommunicado that I'm trying my best to catch up. I just figured to get back into the swing the things, I'd add another government that is apparently randomly checking my blog.
This time, it's ETECSA, the Cuban telecoms Ministry. I know I didn't log into my blog from Cuba that day and as far as I know no one else did and certainly not for 47 minutes...

From the past:
The US State Dept
The Canadian House of Commons

It's good to be home!

Muchacho Enfermo

Yet Another Internaiotal Mistake on Human Rights

The UN Human Rights Council has been elected, should we be excited? Not really...
The countries who are now new members of the council are:
Cameroon, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Belgium, Djibouti, China, Hungary, Mexico, Norway, Kenya, Jordan, Russian Federation, Uruguay, United States, Mauritius, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Senegal

The council was created about 3 years ago to replace the Human Rights Commission which basically ended up as the butt en of many jokes and had no credibility. I'm pretty sure that this council is heading very much in the same direction since many member countries are known for their lack of respect for Human Rights.

The US, whose recent track record has been put into question and who had boycotted the Council under Pres. Bush, was elected with over 90% of votes in their favor. Russia, despite the death of many opposition politicians was also elected. I find it amazing that a lot of these countries ran unopposed, Human Rights' violators such as China, Saudi Arabia and Cuba ran unopposed.

In a recent report on Reteurs the EU states that they have made no progress on Human Rights dealings with Cuba and that the EU will most likely put sanctions back in place in an upcoming vote. When asked about their position towards the EU and Human Rights, Cuba had this to say:

""Cuba is ready to normalize* relations, to establish a new start in the relationships between the European Union and Cuba," Rodriguez said.
He said the common EU position on Cuba, with its emphasis on human rights criticism, was "obsolete.""

*Normalization is a process whereby behaviours and ideas are made to seem "normal" through repetition, or through ideology, propaganda, etc., often to the point where they appear natural and taken for granted. (from Wikipedia)

The Czech foreign minister also said: "We came back to the issue of political prisoners in Cuba and their health, and the answer we got was that in Cuba there are no political prisoners."

The Cuban foreign minister even went so far as to say: "These are legal decisions, and not of a political nature. The Cuban penal system fully complies with all standards in this domain."

This, my dear readers, is what the UN Human Rights Council made up of: Human Rights violators, propagandists, liars and cheaters, with the few exceptions that must be the voice of reason and the voting majority of this council if it is to become credible and viable. If not, I fear that this UN initiative, like so many before will be doomed to crash and burn.

Muchacho Enfermo

Worst Places to Blog From

There were no surprises for me when I first saw the list of Top Ten Worst Countries to be a Blogger to find countries such as Iran, Myanmar and Cuba included in the infamous list.

At number 2 Iran has a fairly large blogger population and most of them aren’t afraid of the things they say, I know that I follow a few Persian blogs and most of these people don’t mince words. However, the Iranian government has been holding an Iranian-Canadian blogger known as the Blogfather since October on charges of being an Israeli spy or something along those lines. The government there apparently isn’t afraid to stick bogus charges and throw due process out the door to silence offensive bloggers.

Myanmar (Burma) is a scary place if you’re a blogger... Right up there on the list at number 1 it has handed down ridiculously long prison sentences to blogger ranging in the 40-50 years behind bars (and please remember that these are not the nice Canadian jails with cable and a gym and 3 meals per day). But they forge on, the Burmese in exile publish blogs and write and get the news that even the international press can’t get. I’m fortunate enough to know one of these bloggers, Ashin Mettacara, who has a blog, a news site and has helped launch a social network called Smile Club to help Burmese and people from all around the world connect.

Cuba is the place that I’m most familiar with on this list. It sits at number 4 only because bloggers haven’t yet been given lengthy prison terms. Access to the internet is restricted in Cuba, especially for locals who can mostly only access it from government run “internet cafes” at the ridiculous price of 5 or 6 Cucs per month when the average wage is 18-20 Cucs per month. The government there has blocked access to all the blogs hosted on desdecuba.com (among others) and has forced the sites to be hosted outside the island with the help of friends living abroad.

Again, I wasn’t surprised by any of the members of the list and I’m glad to say that I live in a country where I’m free to say whatever I want whenever I want to whomever I want. I can safely have the internet at my house without worrying that a team of special ops soldiers will kidnap me in the night for what I’ve said or simply for being online. As much as I complain about our politics and our justice system, I’m eternally thankful to be living here.

Muchacho Enfermo

This is the Song that doesn't end...

Following up on yesterday's "commie separatist manifesto" I decided that this being May Day I'd take the opportunity to write about more idiots that populate my fair city.

The Montreal Gazette reported in an article today that Montreal's 11 extreme-left communist groups are banding together for organize marches and concerts today to promote communism.

One march will start in the east en of the city lead by unions and the other march will be being in Cabot Square, in the middle of Downtown, and be lead by Anti-Capitalist, Anarchists and probably street punks that tend to show up to these things. If all goes well (which it won't) the groups should converge somewhere around Berri Square right between the Latin Quarter and the Gay Village.

As usual I'll include a few of my favorite quotes from the article:

"It's hard to be a communist in North America," Étienne (one of the commies) said. "But with the current economic crisis, with everyone questioning capitalism, we have a open window."

"There would be far less cars, and the city wouldn't be organized in a way that people need to live and work in different places," Eric (a 26 year old PHD student) said. "Workers would make the company's decisions, and there would be no boss."

Just when you thought it was over you realize that the insanity continues. How can a PHD student think that this would be good? I don't want anyone telling me where to work and that I can't own three cars, it's my business... just because he can't afford one or doesn't want one it doesn't mean that I can't have one. The beauty about Canada is that we have safeguards in place such as Workers Comp, Ei, Welfare, Medicare and Education which are given to ALL Canadians. Do we need a better way of helping the poor? Yes. Is there things we could do to help change their situations? Yes. But we don't need to change our economic system to do it. If we do there will be even less money to help them out!

The last thing I need is some cocky 26 year old PHD student telling me how I should live my life. Although considering that on the entire island of Montreal the was only 2207 votes for communist parties I don't think it'll happen any time soon.

So while our friends in Cuba are banging on their pots today for freedom of speech, travel, expression and in protest against communism (Generation Y and Octavo Cerco , From Here), I'll probably have my car vandalized by communists protesting against me.

Muchacho Enfermo

Cuba Fake News

Taken Directly from the Cuba Fake News Blog.
"Cuba Fake News is the PROYECTO DESLIZ contribution of the X Bienal de La Habana. We invite every one to be part of this project. Write your fake news about Cuba. All you need is write your fake news and send it to e-mail: proyecto desliz Then you will see your fake news on the Cuba Fake News blog. Write your fake news now and send it to us. We are waiting"

Here's a few English links from the site:
"How I Saved Cuba From Bankruptcy"
"Cuba Talent Law Ruled Impotent"
"Late Breaking News on Cubans and Cake"

So if you've got any fake news send it in!
The blog will be in my sidebar as long as it keeps being updated.

Muchacho Enfermo

Is Cuba Bankrupt?

Is Cuba on the verge of bankruptcy? Reuters reported on Yahoo Argentina that Cuba head was on the verge of financial collapse and had to stop honoring large wire transfers from foreign companies as their cash reserves are almost depleted. The Castro Cartel blames the hurricanes that hit the island last year, but in reality Cuba had been negotiating with its lenders prior to both hurricanes in order to lower their interest payments so they could meet their financial obligations to the foreign nations that had lent them money.

The real reality is that the economic crisis in Cuba started long before these two hurricanes and long before Reuters wrote about it. The truth is that the economic crisis in Cuba started the day that Castro marched into Havana and assumed power and deepened the day the Soviet Union imploded. The island nation has never really recovered from the Special Period, or from 1959 for that matter.

As a tourist in a hotel last October it was hard to tell that there had been two major hurricanes that had hit Cuba but the second I left the hotel and got on the bus the effects of the storms were instantly visible. The little stands and restaurants in the cities had doubled the price of food and halved the portions; short crops were being grown in a fruit producing province; the houses that were already battered and nothing more than shacks looked like inhabited rubble.

Cuba truly is on the verge of financial collapse and is trying to avoid bankruptcy...

If I was Raul today I’d be worried:
History has shown us famine leads to dissent and rebellion.
The people are hungry, literally hungry for something to eat...

But what their stomachs and their souls are rumbling for is something much bigger than a meal, they are starving for Change.

Muchacho Enfermo